New Stirling: Moving On Part 1
by impactbluefxdwg
Summary: Jeffrey has to help the kids begin to move on from their scary experience with Sharptooth and the deaths of their families. Rather short for one of my stories.
1. Chapter 1: The Recovery Begins

_January 23, 2015, 9:00 AM_

Jeffrey was starting to become rather frazzled. The kids were crying again, and Jeffrey was starting to get very stressed out, since the kids were very scared, and they would start crying whenever Jeffrey left them alone, since they only felt safe with him, so he had to drag them around with him if it meant keeping them from crying again, as the kids crying was now a major source of anxiety.

"Guys, I know that ya want me to be with ye all the time, but sometimes, I have things to do." Jeffrey hastily explained to the crying kids. "I dunnae ever mean to leave ya alone forever. I just need to leave for a short time sometimes, since I have some other responsibilities as well. Surely, ye can take it-"

"We can't!" Littlefoot cut him off, surprising Jeffrey.

"Why?" Jeffrey asked, startled.

"Because..." Littlefoot sobbed, lowering his head, "we can't feel safe if you're not around..."

This surprised Jeffrey, and it revealed why the kids were so scared and would cry so often: he was the only person that they felt safe around. But when he thought about it, it made sense. When Jeffrey and the kids were about to get to the valley, the kids were very excited, since they thought that their families had gotten to the valley, but after searching for their parents in the valley, their hopes were crushed when they realized that their parents didn't make it, reducing them to the whimpering, sobbing mess that all 5 of them were now.

"Okay, okay, ye win." Jeffrey muttered. "It looks like I have nae choice but to stay with ye 5 and help ya work through these problems."

The kids stopped audibly crying at this, though they still had tears running down their faces. At that, Jeffrey began trying to help the kids work through their severe fear issues.

* * *

 _9:00 PM_

Jeffrey had been trying very hard for the past 12 hours to help the kids work through their problems, but he wasn't making any headway, since the kids clung to their fear of being alone, which wasn't helping him at all.

"Guys, ye're nae helping." Jeffrey groaned. "Ye're supposed to let go of yer fear of being alone, nae cling to it."

"But we don't want to be alone!" Littlefoot wailed. The kids didn't understand that they weren't doing the right thing in terms of getting rid of their fears.

"Alright, well, I'm nae making much progress, so I guess one thing I can do is help ye 5 get to sleep." Jeffrey sighed.

So Jeffrey had to lay against Littlefoot's side to make the kids fall asleep. Luckily, the kids were heavy sleepers, like most hatchlings their ages, so they wouldn't wake up for much, if at all.

Once the kids were asleep, Jeffrey managed to stand up and walk away a few yards without waking them up. He used this opportunity to think about why the kids were so nervous and scared now, where 8 days ago, when the kids were about to get to the valley, they seemed so confident and happy once Sharptooth was dealt with. But then he remembered that he had carried a weapon with him while he was taking the kids to the valley, which made the kids feel calm and secure, since they knew that he could shoot to death anyone who threatened them. But he didn't carry the weapon with him anymore, so the kids were very skittish and scared. But it also gave him the perfect idea to prank the kids with when they woke up, since he actually had a S&W M29 (.44 Magnum) that he kept in his room most of the time. Maybe he would let the kids see him armed again in his own way?

"Hmm, now I know how to go about tis."


	2. Chapter 2: Prank-Up Call

_January 24, 6:00 AM_

The next morning, Jeffrey woke up in his own bed again for the first time in over a week. For the past 8 days, he had been having to sleep outside with the kids to keep them from crying all night. Though Jeffrey did feel pity for them, it was starting to get on his nerves a little, and he was wanting to sleep in his own bed again. He felt quite refreshed from being able to sleep in his own bed again for once. Before he left his room, he put on his revolver holster and put the revolver in it.

When he got to where the kids were sleeping, Jeffrey was relieved to find that they hadn't woken up yet. Surprisingly enough, they were sleeping as peacefully as infants, even snoring like human babies. But of course, they couldn't sleep forever. Someone had to wake them up. And Jeffrey was going to see if they could take a wake-up prank.

So Jeffrey walked up to where the kids were sleeping, drew his revolver, and fired it at a nearby tree.

 ***BOOM***

The revolver that Jeffrey was wielding was an especially loud one, loud enough to make the kids wake up and freak out, making Jeffrey laugh hard as he holstered his revolver again, since he knew that it was just some fun on his part.

But there was also a change in the kids' moods from yesterday. Instead of being sad and scared and crying a lot like normal, this time the kids were quite grumpy, even angry, when they realized what Jeffrey did.

"What was that for?" Littlefoot angrily asked, grumpy at being woken up like this.

"Come on, guys, that was just a joke on my part." Jeffrey tried reassuring them. But instead, they just seemed to get more angry. "It was really funny!"

"THAT WASN'T FUNNY!" the kids screamed at him. Jeffrey's smile rapidly disappeared.

"Uh oh." Jeffrey quietly muttered. Then, the kids actually began charging at him. "OH SHOOT!"

Jeffrey then turned around and began running as fast as he could, with the kids pursuing.

* * *

The chase lasted for almost an hour, with the kids almost catching him a few times. It was quite humiliating for Jeffrey, since he wasn't scared of a roaring sharptooth, but instead he was scared of 5 little flattooth hatchlings. Talk about embarrassing!

* * *

 _6:54 AM_

Finally, after chasing him for almost an hour, the kids' legs gave out and they tumbled to a halt. Jeffrey, who had better endurance, gradually slowed to a halt and turned around to see the kids piled on top of each other, exhausted.

"Aye, it was just a joke." Jeffrey told them. "It was nae meant to be taken seriously. Besides, I've gotta have SOME fun at SOME point."

"But it wasn't funny to us!" Cera shot back, thought with a tone of exhaustion in her voice.

"Well, to me, ANY mood that ye are in is better that ye 5 bein' sad, scared, and cryin' all the time." Jeffrey told them. "Dinnae I mention that ye guys cryin' is a trigger?"

The kids were surprised by this.

"Oh, um, we didn't know." Littlefoot squeaked. "We were just so scared that we couldn't help it."

"Then at least try." Jeffrey recommended. "I can't quite handle havin' to be with ye guys EVERY SINGLE MINUTE just to stop ye from cryin'. Besides, even if you still miss your families, there isn't much of a reason to be scared anymore, since I'm armin' myself again, so I can protect ya better."

"Oh, that good." Petrie sighed with relief. "At last, me feel safe again."

Jeffrey walked over to the kids, who were still exhausted and lying on the ground from the chase, and hugged them, pulling them as close to him as he could.

"Alright, guys," Jeffrey told them as he released them from his hug, "I've got things to do nae, but I'm still going to make sure that the valley stays a safe place to live in. Can ye handle being alone this time?"

"We'll be fine now, we will, we will." Ducky answered. The kids were finally ready to be left alone for the first time in several days.

"Alright then, I'll see ya later." Jeffrey responded.

With that, Jeffrey went back to his house to start his day.


	3. Chapter 3: A Surprising New Resident

_7:15 AM_

It took a little while because of the distance that he had gone during the chase, since the valley wasn't small, but Jeffrey eventually got to his house. There, Johnathan and Cordelia were waiting for him.

"Good morning, Jeffrey." Johnathan greeted.

"Good morning, mother, good morning, father." Jeffrey greeted back. "Is there something going on today?"

"Well, yes, there is." Cordelia told him. "We have a special new resident today."

"What's special about this one?" Jeffrey asked.

"Well, he's a dinosaur, but he was adopted into our family," Cordelia answered, "similar to what you did with Alan."

"Can I see him?" Jeffrey looked over at his father?

"Why, of course." Johnathan replied. "Come on."

With that, Johnathan and Cordelia led Jeffrey to the new resident of the valley.

* * *

 _7:20 AM_

Johnathan, Cordelia, and Jeffrey were walking down to a large, shady grove in the valley, presumably where the new resident settled. Even though it was a fair-sized grove, Jeffrey thought that the new resident was going to be young and small, since it was very unusual for a large adult flattooth to be adopted into a human family, but instead usual for the adopted flattooth to be a hatchling.

However, as he got closer to the grove, he could faintly see a huge, long, grey shape, telling him that the new resident was not small or young, but instead older, and massive. It looked to be an adult longneck, the largest of flatteeth.

Finally, Johnathan, Cordelia, and Jeffrey went into the grove, with Jeffrey looking around to find where the new resident was. But an old, gravelly voice got his attention, although it was directed at Johnathan.

"Is my wait over, kid?" the voice asked.

"Yes, it is." Johnathan answered. Then, he turned to Jeffrey. "Jeffrey, look up. This is our new resident."

Jeffrey looked up to see the huge head of an adult longneck coming down to look at him. Unlike Littlefoot (who was an Apatosaurus), this longneck was a Diplodocus, since he had a long, round, and narrow head, as opposed to Littlefoot's short, blocky, and wide head, and if longnecks were to dogs in terms of head shape, then this new resident was to a greyhound as Littlefoot was to a Rottweiler.

The new resident seemed to be older, since his skin was more wrinkly, and a scar across his right eye proved that he was no stranger to fighting sharpteeth. He also constantly seemed to be squinting, as if he was sensitive to light, something that Jeffrey shared.

But what Johnathan said next practically made Jeffrey's mind explode.

"Jeffrey, this is Doc." Johnathan introduced. "He was adopted into our family as an egg, and he was raised alongside your great-grandfather James. He left the valley back in 2000 when James died, but he's come back now."

Jeffrey was speechless. For the first time in a while, words had failed him.

"Well, hello there, Jeffrey." Doc greeted. "I can tell your father raised a fine son."

"Umm, uh, hello, Doc." Jeffrey stuttered. "I-It's, uh, nice to meet ya."

"Ah, don't worry, I don't grade people based on how they introduce themselves." Doc reassured, trying to help Jeffrey with his nervousness. "You know, your great-grandfather had the same issues interacting with others at first. Took him a while to grow out of it."

Jeffrey relaxed a little as Doc came a little closer.

"Besides," Doc continued, "you've done the valley, and all of New Stirling, a great favor by finally taking down Sharptooth. Your great-grandfather would be so proud of you if he was still around."

Jeffrey blushed a little bit, but he had a huge grin on his face, and eagerly hugged Doc's face as the old longneck brought his head to the ground right in front of him. Since Doc and Jeffrey were practically family because Doc was adopted and raised alongside James Connery, Jeffrey's great-grandfather, Doc was just fine with letting Jeffrey hug him. After a few seconds, they broke away form each other.

"So, Doc, can I introduce ya to some of me friends here?" Jeffrey asked.

"Well, that's just fine." Doc answered.

"Alright then, follow me." Jeffrey told him.

With that, Jeffrey led Doc to where he had left the kids.


	4. Chapter 4: The Gang Meets Doc

_7:45 AM_

"So that's how you took down Sharptooth, huh?"

"Yeah, it was. He was definitely a tough cookie to crack. At least he's gone now."

Jeffrey had just finished explaining to Doc how he took down Sharptooth by himself. They were on their way to where Jeffrey had left Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike. Jeffrey was hoping that they hadn't started crying again while he was away, since their spirits had been weakened severely after the events of when Jeffrey saved them, and they were still prone to bursting into tears.

Finally, the kids were in sight.

"Okay, there they are." Jeffrey told Doc. "These are the "friends" that I want ya to meet. I actually rescued 'em from Sharptooth and brought 'em here to the valley. They're part of our family now."

"So someone did survive Sharptooth thanks to you." Doc remarked, rather surprised. "Nice job."

"Just be gentle, because they're fragile right now." Jeffrey warned. "They lost their families, so it's really easy to make them cry."

"Don't worry about that, Jeffrey." Doc assured. "I might be known as "The Lone Dinosaur", but I know how to be gentle. I've almost always been so to my family, blood-related or not. I can help these kids not cry. They might need the presence of an adult dinosaur more than anything."

At last, the two got to the kids. Just in time, apparently, because it looked like they were about to start crying again, despite what they said earlier about being able to handle being by themselves.

"Aye, guys, I'm right here." Jeffrey attempted to be reassuring. "I'm back, just like that-"

However, he was interrupted when the kids looked up and noticed Doc. His huge size, combined with the scary-looking scar on his right eye, made him accidentally scare the kids, and they began to cry, something that Jeffrey did not want, and he looked away, due to the trigger about the kids crying that he had. Fortunately, Doc was able to take control of the situation.

"Hey, calm down." Doc told them. "Despite what my appearance might suggest, I'm not going to hurt you."

Doc brought his head down to the kids, who went silent and coiled back, unsure of what Doc was going to do. But they almost immediately calmed down and relaxed when Doc began nuzzling Littlefoot. But that's when Doc had a mischievous idea, despite his old age.

Having calmed down and actually feeling comfortable with Doc's presence after a few seconds of being nuzzled, Littlefoot stood up to receive more nuzzles, but he was knocked over when he stood up. When the young longneck fell onto his backside, Doc nuzzled him in the stomach.

"Hey, that-that tickles!" Littlefoot laughed as Doc continued to nuzzle him in the stomach.

Jeffrey, who had turned around to watch Doc's interactions with the kids, was happy to see Littlefoot laughing again after what seemed like ages of him and the other kids almost continuously crying. Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were also happy when they saw that their friend had found someone they could all trust, and they eagerly joined in to get some attention from Doc, and they got some as well.

Just a few minutes later, the kids were all laying down on their backs, exhausted, but with huge grins on their faces. They had been hoping that they find someone else that they could trust, since Jeffrey often had things to do. Of course, they still trusted Jeffrey, since he was the one who had rescued them and brought them to the valley, but he couldn't be with them very often. But now, they had found someone else that they could also trust. But what Doc said next surprised them.

"I can tell that you are the kids that Jeffrey here rescued from the valley." Doc told them.

"How did you know?" Cera asked.

"Well, how else would you expect me to know if Jeffrey didn't tell me?" Doc snarked at them. In the background, Jeffrey chuckled at the fact that Doc had the signature dry sense of humor of the Connery family.

Then, Doc changed his tone.

"Now, I know that your original families are no longer alive." Doc began. "But you do have A family, though. You have us. What Jeffrey meant by "taking you guys in" is that you 5 are now a part of our family. You are all adopted now. You have a family again."

The kids looked at him for a few seconds before tears began streaming down their faces. However, it wasn't fear or sadness as to why they were crying again, since they had enormous smiles. Now, the reason WHY they were crying...

...was because they were so happy at the fact that they had a FAMILY again!

The kids quickly sat up and looked at Jeffrey. Knowing what the kids would do if he didn't, Jeffrey went up to the kids and hugged them as the sagged into his arms, getting Jeffrey's arms wet with their tears of joy.


End file.
